10th UN aid convoy arrives in HTS-held Syria’s Idlib
IDLIB, Syria (North Press) – A convoy of the humanitarian aid of the World Food Program (WFP) entered on Sunday Idlib Governorate, northwestern Syria, held by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS, formerly al-Nusra Front) coming from Syrian government-held areas.
The convoy took place two days prior to the expiration of a resolution authorized by United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to deliver humanitarian aid to northwest Syria through Bab al-Hawa crossing.
A local source told North Press that the WFP convoy is the tenth of its kind the UN lifesaving aid deliveries have been allowed to have access into northwest Syria through the government-held areas, and the fifth since the last extension of the resolution.
On July 13 2022, the UNSC approved to extend lifesaving aid deliveries into northwest Syria through Bab al-Hawa border crossing for a further six months.
In July 2014, the UNSC adopted the Resolution 2165 which authorized the UN to deliver cross-border humanitarian aid to Syria through four crossings al-Ramtha crossing with Jordan, Bab al-Salam, Bab al-Hawa with Turkey, and al Ya’rubiyah (Tel Kocher), on Syrian-Iraqi border, without the consent of the Syrian government.
Since July 10 2020, Bab al-Hawa has been the only crossing kept open to UN aid based on the resolution 2533 (2020), while the use of the others was curtailed.
“The convoy passed through the village of al-Trumba in coordination with the HTS and the Syrian Red Crescent,” the source added.
The convoy consists of 18 trucks carrying food and other humanitarian aid, which are supposed to be distributed to the poorest families in northwestern Syria.
According to the source, the trucks headed towards the warehouses of a humanitarian organization in the border city of Sarmada, north of Idlib, amid security tightening by the HTS that escorted the convoy till it reached its final point.
On Oct. 22, 2022, an aid convoy of the WFP entered Idlib, coming from the Syrian government-held areas.
It is scheduled on Jan. 12 that the UN will vote on the decision of extending the delivery of international humanitarian aid to Syria through Bab al-Hawa crossing.
According to UN data, 14.6 million Syrians rely on humanitarian assistance, the highest ever recorded. Across Syria, 12 million individuals face acute food insecurity – a staggering 51 percent increase since 2019.